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Аквариум

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Аквариум (Aquarium) is a group, formed in Leningrad, Russia in 1972 by Борис Гребенщиков (Boris Grebenshchikov), then a student of Applied Mathematics at Leningrad State University, and Анатолий Гуницкий (Anatoly “George” Gunitsky), a playwright and absurdist poet.

In the 1970s and early 1980’s, rock and roll was banned in the Soviet Union (exception was given only to a few government-approved artists), and Aquarium’s usual concert venues were private apartments. These concerts were a unique Soviet phenomenon, created by underground musicians. They were usually “unplugged”, as noise would cause the neighbors to alert the authorities. The limited space fostered an atmosphere of intimacy between the group and its audience, listening with bated breath, with perhaps someone recording it on a simple tape recorder. This was similar to the concepts of the Russian bards (), however Aquarium were (admittedly) much more influenced by Western music, particularly by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, acts Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Roxy Music and also . Thus their compositions were considerably more complex and their lyrics covered a broader range of topics, showing Grebenshchikov’s notable erudition in Celtic and Indian cultures, among other things.

Until 1987 Aquarium recorded all of their albums in a self-assembled underground studio (several members had engineering education) disguised as a “Young Technicians Club” (for the album Радио Африка (Radio Africa) (1983) a government-owned mobile studio was secretly used, after bribing a technician).
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